The eurozone economy kept pace with that of the U.S. for the first time since 2008 last year and its jobless rate fell to a seven-year low, putting the currency area on a steadier footing at the start of a year clouded by political uncertainty, The Wall Street Journal reported. A fourth-quarter pickup allowed the eurozone economy to expand by 1.7% compared with 1.6% for the U.S.

Fewer French businesses failed last year than at any time since the 2008 financial crisis, the latest sign that the euro area’s second-largest economy is strengthening, a report published Tuesday showed. A total of 57,844 French companies filed for protection for creditors, entered receivership or went bankrupt in 2016, according to Altares, which analysis corporate data, Bloomberg News reported. That’s down 8.3 percent from 2015. The number of jobs threatened by insolvencies fell 15 percent to 200,000.

Deteriorating credit outlooks for two U.K. retailers serving different ends of the wealth spectrum show that investors may drive a hard bargain when those companies next tap the debt market, Bloomberg News reported. First S&P Global Ratings downgraded value clothing chain Matalan one notch further into high-yield territory to CCC, citing a proposal to buy back some debt in the secondary market. This could amount to a "selective default," if it purchases debt at a market price that’s below par, S&P said.

Europeans are more confident about their economy than they’ve been in nearly six years, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the markets, Bloomberg News reported. Investors dumped bonds and stocks across the region on Monday, spurred by a confluence of risks that echoed the euro-zone debt crisis. French and Italian election campaigns stoked concerns over the rise of anti-euro political powers, while inflation in Germany signaled European Central Bank stimulus may not last much longer. Meantime, Greece, the catalyst for the original crisis, reached another crossroads with its creditors.

The European Union should create a bloc-wide bad bank to help tackle the 1.2 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) of soured loans on lenders’ books, policy makers said. Andrea Enria, chairman of the European Banking Authority, proposed setting up a common asset management company to take over and manage the sell-off of the loans, Bloomberg News reported. The bad bank would bridge the gap between the “real economic value” of banks’ bad loans and the price that investors are willing to pay.

The euro zone economy has kicked off the year robustly, data from the Baltic to the Mediterranean showed on Monday, evidence for the European Central Bank that its massive cash stimulus is working but also posing questions about what comes next. There are risks ahead - some economic, some political - but for now the 19 member states of the euro zone are doing better than many expected, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Greece will only receive more loans from the euro zone if the International Monetary Fund joins its latest aid programme, the head of the bloc's bailout fund said on Monday, spelling out a condition thus far disregarded by Athens's creditors, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Greece needs a new tranche of financial aid under its 86 billion euro bailout by the third quarter of the year or it faces the risk of defaulting on its debts.

The premium investors demand to own two-year French debt over similarly maturing German bonds climbed to its highest level since the 2013 Taper Tantrum on Monday, as the country’s election looms, the Financial Times reported. The difference between yields on two-year French and German sovereign bonds climbed to 25 basis points on Monday, up from 18.5 bps on Friday and a low of less than 1 bp touched after the US election last November. Yields on the French note climbed 5 bps on Monday, compared to a 2 bp drop in German ones.

Greece’s public debt and financing needs will prove “explosive” in decades to come unless Europe overhauls its bailout program to ease the load, the International Monetary Fund says in a draft report as the country seeks a fresh loan payout, Bloomberg News reported. In a baseline scenario, Greece’s government debt will reach 275 percent of its gross domestic product by 2060, at which time its gross financing needs will represent 62 percent of GDP, the IMF says in the report obtained by Bloomberg. The government estimates public debt around 180 percent of GDP at present.

Two historic Greek newspapers, including the country’s best-selling daily, will cease publication, the debt-ridden Lambrakis Press Group announced on Saturday. “To Vima weekly and Ta Nea daily are forced to cease their publication within days due to financial reasons,” the company said in a statement, The Guardian reported. Lambrakis Press Group (DOL) “is lacking any available resources and as a result it can’t support the printing of its newspapers and, of course, can’t ensure the unhampered operation of the other media outlets it owns,” it added.